Estonian Parliamentary Election, 2015

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Just 1 month until Estonian elections.

Yesterday was first TV debate but things did not got very heated as they usually do. Right now Reform party still holds a lead in popularity.

I was watching it as well and it was pretty boring, to be honest. There was little actual debate since the participants mainly had to answer questions from the hosts and since basically every candidate got different questions, it made it rather difficult to compare both their own personal knowledge and their parties' platforms. According to an ERR article, some experts declared Eiki Nestor (SDE, current speaker of the parliament) the winner although personally I must say that I found Urve Tiidus (Reform, current minister of culture) well above the others because while she may not have been concrete enough on all issues, she managed to remain coherent, in other words easy to follow and understandable and didn't resort to cheap shots at other candidates. Jaak Aaviksoo (IRL) was his usual arrogant self, Mailis Reps (Center) made big words and managed to hold your attention when speaking but had little substance and Krista Aru (Free Party) was unfortunately a disappointment. And, well, as someone quite cleverly tweeted during the debate, the show hadn't run even two minutes before the phrase "traditional family" was uttered, of course by the usual suspect, EKRE's candidate Imre Mürk. To his credit though, I have to say Mürk was at least relatively concrete in his answers even if I didn't find his arguments particularly agreeable.

By the way, on monday the second episode of the politicians survival show "Natural selection" aired on TV3. I have to say that the second episode was definitely more fun than the first but I was very surprised when the host awarded 3 points to Mihhail Korb in the end and got the feeling that they just want to keep viewers on the edge so as to not make it too obvious who is going to win in the end.

[Teemant]

Just 1 month until Estonian elections.

Yesterday was first TV debate but things did not got very heated as they usually do. Right now Reform party still holds a lead in popularity.

I was watching it as well and it was pretty boring, to be honest. There was little actual debate since the participants mainly had to answer questions from the hosts and since basically every candidate got different questions, it made it rather difficult to compare both their own personal knowledge and their parties' platforms. According to an ERR article, some experts declared Eiki Nestor (SDE, current speaker of the parliament) the winner although personally I must say that I found Urve Tiidus (Reform, current minister of culture) well above the others because while she may not have been concrete enough on all issues, she managed to remain coherent, in other words easy to follow and understandable and didn't resort to cheap shots at other candidates. Jaak Aaviksoo (IRL) was his usual arrogant self, Mailis Reps (Center) made big words and managed to hold your attention when speaking but had little substance and Krista Aru (Free Party) was unfortunately a disappointment. And, well, as someone quite cleverly tweeted during the debate, the show hadn't run even two minutes before the phrase "traditional family" was uttered, of course by the usual suspect, EKRE's candidate Imre Mürk. To his credit though, I have to say Mürk was at least relatively concrete in his answers even if I didn't find his arguments particularly agreeable.

By the way, on monday the second episode of the politicians survival show "Natural selection" aired on TV3. I have to say that the second episode was definitely more fun than the first but I was very surprised when the host awarded 3 points to Mihhail Korb in the end and got the feeling that they just want to keep viewers on the edge so as to not make it too obvious who is going to win in the end.

Good analysis. I was too disappointed with Vabaerakond representative in this debate. I was hoping a lot more from them and in my opinion Krista Aru only repeated things that someone had just (minute ago) said.
But I laughed in the beginning of the show when host asked from Nestor "Kellele kuuluva riigi parlamendi spiiker te siis hetkel olete" (I don't know how to translate it into Estonian ) in regards to SDE program where they promise "To give country back to people".

Hopefully there will be a TV debate with prime minister canditates because usually they come out guns blazing.

Well as instructor said Korb deserved 3 points because eventhough he had injured is foot with axe he continued on, didn't complain at all and acted like he was okay. But in my opinion Liina Raud should had 3 points because she stood out the most in my opinion in this episode.

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Good analysis. I was too disappointed with Vabaerakond representative in this debate. I was hoping a lot more from them and in my opinion Krista Aru only repeated things that someone had just (minute ago) said.
But I laughed in the beginning of the show when host asked from Nestor "Kellele kuuluva riigi parlamendi spiiker te siis hetkel olete" (I don't know how to translate it into Estonian ) in regards to SDE program where they promise "To give country back to people".

Hopefully there will be a TV debate with prime minister canditates because usually they come out guns blazing.

Well as instructor said Korb deserved 3 points because eventhough he had injured is foot with axe he continued on, didn't complain at all and acted like he was okay. But in my opinion Liina Raud should had 3 points because she stood out the most in my opinion in this episode.

As for the quote regarding the host and Nestor's reply, a little background for non-Estonians reading the thread: recently there have been many accusations made by different groups of the civic society, journalistic circles and smaller parties that the country no longer belongs to its people but rather a group of politicians in the "cartel parties" (the four largest parties, Reform, Center, SDE and IRL) who have hijacked the power and no longer listen to people. So in response to that, one promise made by SDE in their program is to give the country back to the people. The host then asked mr Nestor which roughly translates as "to whom does the country that you're the speaker of the parliament of then belong?" Just for the record, while I was not particularly impressed by Nestor's performance in said debate, he's the candidate I will be voting for in the coming elections.

Regarding the survival show, I agree that Liina Raud has been very positively surprising in this show and I'm not saying that because I support SDE lol. I just didn't expect her to do that well in the show.

[Teemant]

There is a political compass for Estonians if some Estonians did not know about it. Unfortunately this only in Estonian language.

http://valijakompass.err.ee

I completed it and I got:

Reform party - 84%
Free party - 74%
IRL (Pro Patria and Respublica Union) - 71%
EKRE - 65%
SDE (Social democrats) - 53%
Centre party - 51%
Green party - 50%

[New Werpland]

Was Mart Laar a part of the reform party?

[Gorbachevian USSR]

Either Reform party or Conservative Peoples' party.

[Teemant]

Was Mart Laar a part of the reform party?

No. IRL (Pro Patria and Res Publica Union).

[Alsheb]

The Communist Party of Estonia. I despise the political landscape in the Baltic states, and all political parties who play a role in keeping it alive.

[Teemant]

The Communist Party of Estonia. I despise the political landscape in the Baltic states, and all political parties who play a role in keeping it alive.

No such party exists in Estonia and there probably will be never one.

[Alsheb]

The Communist Party of Estonia. I despise the political landscape in the Baltic states, and all political parties who play a role in keeping it alive.

No such party exists in Estonia and there probably will be never one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_ ... %281990%29

Small and politically irrelevant, but it exists

[Teemant]

No such party exists in Estonia and there probably will be never one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_ ... %281990%29

Small and politically irrelevant, but it exists

It doesn't exist. It is 2015 right now.

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

There is a political compass for Estonians if some Estonians did not know about it. Unfortunately this only in Estonian language.

http://valijakompass.err.ee

I completed it and I got:

Reform party - 84%
Free party - 74%
IRL (Pro Patria and Respublica Union) - 71%
EKRE - 65%
SDE (Social democrats) - 53%
Centre party - 51%
Green party - 50%

I completed it a few days ago and while I don't remember the exact percentages, the results were very predictable with SDE and Reform being almost equally the first two in that order and EKRE dead last.

And yeah, the Communist Party doesn't actually exist, at least it's not officially registered. I guess only the United Left Party can consider itself the semi-legal successor of the Communist Party of the ESSR since its predecessor, the Left Party (United Left Party was formed after the Left Party and the Constitution Party, a left-wing Russian nationalist party, joined some years ago) originally comprised of many former Soviet era party members.

[Alsheb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_ ... %281990%29

Small and politically irrelevant, but it exists

It doesn't exist. It is 2015 right now.

They were in the International Communist Seminar in 2005. So unless they stopped between then and now, they still exist. As I said, politically irrelevant. But being irrelevant in a right-wing scene such as Estonia is perhaps more of a blessing anyway.

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Either Reform party or Conservative Peoples' party.

That's quite a strange choice, with Reform Party being for liberal market economy and also quite liberal on social issues while EKRE represents hardcore social conservatives with very protectionist economic policy and large social spending. But to each his own.

[Elke and Elba]

It doesn't exist. It is 2015 right now.

They were in the International Communist Seminar in 2005. So unless they stopped between then and now, they still exist. As I said, politically irrelevant. But being irrelevant in a right-wing scene such as Estonia is perhaps more of a blessing anyway.

>Estonia
>Right-wing
>Talking about a party which has been banned.

I'm quite certain that you have a very shallow knowledge of Estonia and Estonian politics in general? It seems that you have been insistent on talking about the Communist Party since your entrance despite it being irrelevant beyond irrelevance, and frankly speaking, non-existent.

Back on topic. Is Edgar Savisaar still as weird as before? It seems that no one likes him but he keeps getting a position somewhere... Wasn't he even Mayor of Tallinn once?

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Back on topic. Is Edgar Savisaar still as weird as before? It seems that no one likes him but he keeps getting a position somewhere... Wasn't he even Mayor of Tallinn once?

He still is the mayor. Unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, in the near future, there's probably very little that can be done about it since the Center Party has probably the most stable votership (is that even a word?) of all Estonian parties and certain groups of the society (mainly Russians and the elderly) seem to vote for him no matter what. Luckily, SDE has made some gains among the Russian population lately but Savisaar still has a tight grip on Tallinn.

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Just to add, communist parties aren't really banned in the strict sense. However, article 4 of the Political Parties Act stipulates that "political parties whose objectives or activities are aimed at changing the constitutional order or territorial integrity of Estonia by force or are otherwise contrary to criminal law are prohibited." Source: http://www.legaltext.ee/et/andmebaas/te ... onnaseadus

[Alsheb]

They were in the International Communist Seminar in 2005. So unless they stopped between then and now, they still exist. As I said, politically irrelevant. But being irrelevant in a right-wing scene such as Estonia is perhaps more of a blessing anyway.

>Estonia
>Right-wing
>Talking about a party which has been banned.

I'm quite certain that you have a very shallow knowledge of Estonia and Estonian politics in general? It seems that you have been insistent on talking about the Communist Party since your entrance despite it being irrelevant beyond irrelevance, and frankly speaking, non-existent.

Back on topic. Is Edgar Savisaar still as weird as before? It seems that no one likes him but he keeps getting a position somewhere... Wasn't he even Mayor of Tallinn once?

Are you denying that Estonia has a largely right-wing political scene? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't even see a significant leftist party anywhere in the poll. And well, the only reason I talked about the Communist Party is because, honestly, I wouldn't be able to get myself to vote for any of the mentioned parties in the poll. Ever. So yeah

[Scepez]

>Estonia
>Right-wing
>Talking about a party which has been banned.

I'm quite certain that you have a very shallow knowledge of Estonia and Estonian politics in general? It seems that you have been insistent on talking about the Communist Party since your entrance despite it being irrelevant beyond irrelevance, and frankly speaking, non-existent.

Back on topic. Is Edgar Savisaar still as weird as before? It seems that no one likes him but he keeps getting a position somewhere... Wasn't he even Mayor of Tallinn once?

Are you denying that Estonia has a largely right-wing political scene? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't even see a significant leftist party anywhere in the poll. And well, the only reason I talked about the Communist Party is because, honestly, I wouldn't be able to get myself to vote for any of the mentioned parties in the poll. Ever. So yeah

And by "largely right-wing" you mean barely-right-and-more-centrist, right? Cause they really don't show their right-wing...ness?

[Liberty and Linguistics]

No such party exists in Estonia and there probably will be never one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_ ... %281990%29

Small and politically irrelevant, but it exists

The wikipedia page implies that it died in the 90's.

[Hungariaa]

I'd vote for Reform.

[Tallinna Rahvavabariik]

Postimees (one of the largest daily newspapers in Estonia) just held a live debate on economic issues where Jürgen Ligi (Reform, former finance minister), Rannar Vassiljev (SDE, head of the economic committee of the parliament) and Anvar Samost (IRL) took part. I really wonder what the hell Postimees was thinking when they decided to hold the debate at the Tallinn Airport, though, because the constant background noise of people moving and talking and very loud announcements made it damn hard to hear what the participants were saying. Yeah, actually Postimees wanted to demonstrate a new gate area that was opened earlier today and is decorated with the newspaper's logos and offers a chance for passengers to read their news, but still, it was very annoying.

Regardless of my own sympathies towards both the SDE and Reform I do have to say that both Ligi and Vassiljev were the clearly more knowledgeable guests but both of them also had the clear advantage because of their work and IRL's Anvar Samost being a long-time journalist simply doesn't have the experience to discuss certain details. I'd say that IRL should have sent Juhan Parts (their candidate for prime minister and long-time minister of economy) instead but perhaps he just wasn't invited. Thanks to Ligi being there the debate was quite fun to watch and it was good that Vassiljev was sitting between the other two since at one point it looked like Ligi and Samost were preparing to use their fists against each other lol.

[Teemant]

Postimees (one of the largest daily newspapers in Estonia) just held a live debate on economic issues where Jürgen Ligi (Reform, former finance minister), Rannar Vassiljev (SDE, head of the economic committee of the parliament) and Anvar Samost (IRL) took part. I really wonder what the hell Postimees was thinking when they decided to hold the debate at the Tallinn Airport, though, because the constant background noise of people moving and talking and very loud announcements made it damn hard to hear what the participants were saying. Yeah, actually Postimees wanted to demonstrate a new gate area that was opened earlier today and is decorated with the newspaper's logos and offers a chance for passengers to read their news, but still, it was very annoying.

Regardless of my own sympathies towards both the SDE and Reform I do have to say that both Ligi and Vassiljev were the clearly more knowledgeable guests but both of them also had the clear advantage because of their work and IRL's Anvar Samost being a long-time journalist simply doesn't have the experience to discuss certain details. I'd say that IRL should have sent Juhan Parts (their candidate for prime minister and long-time minister of economy) instead but perhaps he just wasn't invited. Thanks to Ligi being there the debate was quite fun to watch and it was good that Vassiljev was sitting between the other two since at one point it looked like Ligi and Samost were preparing to use their fists against each other lol.

I hope that Ligi will be one ETV TV debates also. People can like him or not but Ligi makes every debate more interesting.

[Oranje Nassau]

What are the most recent polls?

[Ergotaria]

Regarding the parties the OP never bothered to include, there are also the green, christian democratic and leftist parties like in many European countries. Nothing special to say about them. They are what one would expect. Well, except for the leftist party. The Center Party isn't the only one explicitly pro-Russian, you see; the United Left Party in Estonia is, alongside its socialism, concerned about the Russian minority in Estonia. There is also the Independence Party, which is just like the Hungarian Jobbik and Greek Chrysi Avgi/Golden Dawn. A neo-fascist party.

As for which one I'd vote, I find no party deserving of my vote.